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Research Topics > British Literature
LITERATURE IN BRITAIN
1765
The letters of Philip Quaque are stored in the Rhodes House
Library in Oxford. Most of Quaque's letters were written to London missionaries asking for
their help in maintaining various missions in Africa. He also describes the paganism of
Cape Coast. [Edwards & Dabydeen]
1770
A Narrative of the Remarkable Particulars in the Life
of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, An African Prince, related by himself is the story
of Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, as it is written by a young white
woman. The narrative seems very mild-tempered and pious and is indicative of a conversion
narrative. He includes discussions on his life in Bornu, his Christian conversion,
hypocrisy among white Christiand and his experiences in slavery. [Edwards &
Dabydeen]
1773
Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was published. Although the author,
Phillis Wheatley was an American, her work was 1st published in London due to
an inability to get any work published by a black person in the United States. She was the
first black female author to be published - British or American. (See also Phillis
Wheatley in the Timeline for African-American literature) [Harley]
1782
Ignatius Sancho’s The Letters of the late Ignatius Sancho was
published after his death by his children. He seems to have a muted sense of his African
origins which creates tensions within his letters. Many of them deal with issues of
slavery and abolition. Most of the letters were to white friends. This narrative differs
from its contemporaries in that he has no knowledge of life in Africa. [Edwards &
Dabydeen]
1787
Ottobah Cugoano’s (John Stuart) Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and
Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species is more outspoken than
previous and contemporary works on the evils of slavery. However, his main concern lies in
alleviating some of the sufferings of the slaves rather than the full abolition of
slavery. [Edwards & Dabydeen]
1789
Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative of
the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa the African, written by himself is
perhaps the most well known slave narrative. It was a bestseller during its day and is
widely read currently. Equiano strives to refute stereotypical notions of
Africa and its inhabitants. It is sometimes sympathetic in its attack on England, but it
is very persistent in striving to create a new view of Africa and Blakcs. It was widely
used to fight in the abolition of slavery in Britain. [Edwards &
Dabydeen]
1815
The Life, History and Sufferings of John Jea, the African Preacher was
written by John Jea and is different from the most slave narratives in that it does not
give a lot of information about Jea. Instead, it contains sermons and moral reflections.
[Edwards & Dabydeen]
1824
The Horrors of Slavery
written by Robert Wedderburn was published. This
vivid account of slavery is the most passionate and radical thus far. Although Wedderburn
was literate, most of his works were refined by others. [Edwards &
Dabydeen]
The Rights of Man (Not Paines) But the Rights of Man in the West Indies
was
published under the pseudonym, Anthropos. It is an anti-slavery tract which includes the
autobiographical accounts of its author. The name of the author was never found.
[Guptara]
1831
The first account of the female slave experience was written by Mary Prince and entitled The History of Mary Prince,
A West Indian Slave. Prince’s narrative was not written by her, but was dictated
to a friend and later edited by Thomas Pringle. [Edwards & Dabydeen]
1853
William G Allen published his autobiographical narrative, American Prejudice
Against Colour. He talks about the prejudice that exists in America in regards to
interracial marriages and his decision to flee from America to avoid persecution.
[Guptara]
1857
Mary Seacole’s The Wonderful Adventures of Mary Seacole in Many Lands
is one of only two books by Black British women in the nineteenth century. This narrative
tells the story of a free-born Black woman who served as a nurse to the British during the
Crimean war. She is very patriotic in his depictions of the soldiers and of Britain in
general. It was widely circulated. [Edwards & Dabydeen]
1868
James Africanus Beale Horton wrote West African Countries and Peoples which
spoke for self-government in the West African countries. Although the text contains some
misinformation about African traditions and customs, it is very forthright in its goal of
promoting independence from the British. [Edwards & Dabydeen]
1881
African Trading; or the Trials of William Narh Ocansey
was written by John
E. Ocansey and tells a different kind of story of slavery. Although Ocansey was a slave,
he seemed to be adopted into the Ocansey family and was treated more as an equal than a
real servant. His text speaks to a different aspect of slavery and also to an innocent
view of Victorian England. [Edwards & Dabydeen]
1887
Edward Wilmot Blyden’s Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race was
published. In this text Blyden relates his different views of Africans and their religious
and traditional practices. He is often very critical and inflexible in his arguments and
is decidedly biased in his opinions. [Edwards & Dabydeen]
1889
J. J. Thomas wrote Froudacity in response to Froude’s text which is
racist in its treatment of black West Indians. Thomas eloquently refutes the claims of
Froude with factual evidence as well as exposing the Oxford professor as a racist.
[Edwards & Dabydeen]
1931
The Beacon
began publication. It was highly influential throughout the
Black community and ran for two years under the editorship of Albert Gomes.
[Guptara]
1936
How Britain Rules Africa was written by George Padmore as a critique of
British colonialism in Africa. His text is very detailed and thorough as it speaks about
colonialism and ranks him as an expert on British colonial affairs. [Fryer]
1948
In June, 492 Jamaicans arrived in England seeking the employment and resources
that Great Britain could offer. Among them were writers Wilson Harris, George Lamming and
Samuel Selvon. This marks the beginning of a period in which many persons of African
descent sought opportunities in Great Britain. However, most of their writings reflect the
isolation and racism they felt in a country they thought would welcome them.
1951
Edgar Mittelholzer’s novel, Shadows Move Among Them focuses on the
differences between cultures and the need for creating new ones. The novel is sometimes
obscure in its viewpoints and ironic in tone. [Guptara]
1953
George Lamming’s first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, portrays the
life experiences of Barbadian children. This novel has won several awards and is noted for
Lamming’s linguistic creativity. [Guptara]
1959
E. R. Brathwaite’s first novel, To Sir, With Love, was published. It
is better known for it’s film version starring Sydney Poitier. The novel has been
highly criticized for not representing the common struggles of Blacks in Britain. It reads
as a success story of a young Black man in Britain and is currently out of print.
[Guptara]
Delaney Shelagh’s play, A Taste of Honey, was recognized as very
controversial during its day due to its subject matter - inter-racial relations and the
production of a ‘half-caste’ child. [Guptara]
1960
Palace of the Peacock is the first novel by Wilson Harris which focuses on
life in Guyana and is representative of his ability to shift images to suggest greater
truths than our own. This is perhaps his most well-known work. [Guptara, Dabydeen &
Tagoe]
1963
Cyril Lionel Robert James’ Beyond a Boundary was written as a somewhat
autobiographical account of James’ philosophy on life, art, culture and political
ideology told through using the game a cricket as a model for life. [Guptara, Dabydeen
& Tagoe]
1964
The Feather Pluckers, written by John Peter Jones depicts the lives of
three Black British youths and their battles with society. The troubles that the youth
encounter are blamed on the British societal system. [Guptara]
1968
Wole Soyinka published his poem, Telelphone Conversation in Voices. The poem talks
about preserving self-awareness in the midst of oppression.
1972
Samuel Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners tells the story of the isolation that is
felt by Caribbean communities who arrived in Britain in the Great Migration of the 1950s.
[Dabydeen & Tagoe]
1973
Nkemba Asika self-published a volume of his poetry entitled, Black Waves.
This is the first volume of his work to be self-published and was promoted on street
corners and at readings.
1975
In Troubled Waters, Ernest Marke gives a rare account of what it was like
to be Black in Britain before 1950. It is an autobiographical account which includes
interesting incidents of racism in Britian.
Linton Kwesi Johnson published a poem entitled "Rage" in Dread Beat and
Blood. This poem, as well as most of the poems in the volume, relates the anger that is
felt due to oppression by whites.
1976
The Bride Price, written by Buchi Emecheta emphasizes the role of the wife
in Nigerian life. Like most of her novels, she brings the tradition of storytelling into
her novels to envoke a sense of African consciousness to her readers. [Lee]
Albert Gomes published his very controversial autobiography which relates his views of
British government. He was the editor of The Beacon and A former politician of
Trinidad. [Guptara]
1978
Roy A. K. Heath’s novel, The Murderer was published. The novel focuses
on the psychological motivations of his main character as he slowly goes insane. This
novel won the Guardian Fiction Prize for literature. [Guptara]
1983
Grace Nichols’ published her book of poetry, i is a long-memoried woman.
Throughout her poems Nichols focuses her attention on the experiences of being a Black
woman from the past into the present day. [Davies]
1984
David Dabydeen’s collection of poetry, Slave Song, was published and
won the 1984 Commonwealth Poetry Prize. The poems are written in Creole and translated
into English. The poems are centered around the struggles of Blacks from slavery to the
present day. Dabydeen also discusses the relationship between the two languages.
[Guptara]
Les Isaac’s Dreadlocks was published and gives an autobiographical account
of one man’s struggle to survive as a Black man in Britain. The text is very
straightforward and gives the reader a glimpse of street life in Britain. [Guptara]
Amos A Ford gives his account on the role of Blacks during WWII in his narrative,
Telling the Truth: The Life and Times of the British Honduran Forestry Unit in Scotland
(1941-1944). This is one of the few versions that depicts the treatment of Blacks in
the war.
Desmond Johnson’s poem "Mass Jobe" in Deadly Ending Season looks
back at the life of an older man and relates the disappointment he feels at not
accomplishing his goals in England. [Dabydeen & Tagoe]
1985
John Agard edits a book of old and new poems in a volume entitled, Mangoes and
Bullets. The interests of the poems vary. However, some themes are isolation, memory
and violence. [Dabydeen & Tagoe]
Fred D’Aguiar’s book of poems entitled Mama Dot was published. It won
the 1984 Commonwealth Poetry Prize and has received national attention. The poems draw on
a variety of themes which are all related to Blacks. [Guptara]
James Berry published "Confession" in Chain of Days. Berry writes
about surviving colonization in both American and England.
Caryl Philips’ novel, The Final Passage, won the Malcolm X Prize in the
Greater London Literature Competition. This novel tells the story of the immigration of
Blacks from the Caribbean to England in the 1950s. [Dabydeen & Tagoe]
Joan Riley’s novel, The Unbelonging, explores the alienation a little girl
feels as she is moved from her home in Jamaica to England and back to Jamaica again.
[Davies]
The Heart of the Race: Black Women’s Lives in Britain
was written by
Beverley Bryan, Stella Dadzie and Suzanne Scafe. This text relates the situations of Black
women in Britain and contains many interesting accounts from various Black women.
[Guptara]
1986
James Berry’s text, The Rise of Dub Poetry and After, serves as the
first substantial critical work on contemporary African-British poetry.
Prodigal, by Ivor Osbourne explores issues of alienation in his story of a
Jamaican’s return to Jamaica after living for several years in Britain
1992
A Passage to England: Barbadian Londoners Speak of Home is a collection of
interviews by John Western in which Barbadians discuss their memories of their homeland
and the reasons they felt they had to leave it.
1993
Running Dream, by Trish Cooke was produced. This play tells the story of
three generations of Black Dominican women and the beauty of embracing the past, enjoying
the present and looking forward to the future. [George]
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